Video

We finished up 2016 with some really fun projects. One of those projects was a video series we did for Caleb Johnson Architects & Builders where we asked their architects, builders, and designers 20 questions ranging from serious to silly. These clips are just 5 of the questions we edited together.

Interview With Sandra Tripp – Huntsman Architectural Group

Huntsman Architectural Group has been a great client to work with. We are very excited to share a recently completed video interview with Huntsman’s new Principal Sandra Tripp. We sat down with Sandra to discuss her passion for design and her vision for the new Aquent headquarters in Boston, MA.

Product Retouching – Furniture – BTS Timelapse

Product retouching is all about fine tuning the subject to ensure it looks as good as possible. A majority of the post production work on this shot is aimed at cleaning up the area so there are no distractions whatsoever. The beauty of a simple background like this is it really lets the product command center stage. We knocked down the glare on the right chair and enhanced the highlights and shadows on both chairs to further define the shape. Beyond that it was cleaning up the floor and dodging and burning the areas that were recessed. Then there was the white wall. At first glance its quite hard to see any problems. By pulling down a curves layer you can quickly see the areas that need attention, mainly the top of the frame where the shadows were inconsistent. There wasn’t to much heavy lifting in post but rather a refinement and cleanup of what was already there.

Homeless in Vacationland – Trailer

We are are very excited to share the trailer for ‪Homeless in Vacationland, a documentary film exploring homelessness in Maine. The aim of the film is to bring awareness to the problem of homelessness, it’s causes and shed some light on the potential means by which we can help those affected. We will be wrapping up shooting footage and interviews this summer and working on post production / editing this winter. If you would like to help in any way, or if you have a story or experience to share, or if you are in a position of government power or community leadership and would like to help, please contact us as soon as possible. We would also love to have a respectful sit down interview with Governor Paul LePage to add his voice regarding his personal experience with homelessness and his view on how to best move forward in helping reduce the number of people effected by homelessness in Maine.

311 Summer Street – Boston, MA

Walking around Boston there are many brick buildings throughout the city, its part of what makes the city so great. 311 Summer Street is the perfect example of an iconic building located in one of Boston’s historic neighborhoods. We recently had the opportunity to work with the team at Boston Realty Advisors to photograph interiors and exteriors that showcased the property. Along with the images we also put together a video that explores the ins and outs of the building. The addition of time-lapse footage shows just how full of life the building, streets and sidewalks are on a busy day. We are stoked with how this project turned out. It is a perfect example of marrying motion and stills together to create a cohesive and seamless result.

Filming Above London

Very excited to share a small sample of our trip filming above London. Most of our time was spent filming interviews from various locations around the city. Along with workplace interviews we also captured video from a nearby rooftop overlooking an active construction site. Hard hats required!! Its interesting to see heavy duty construction equipment that typical moves very slow come to life when captured as a time lapse. There is a beauty in watching this machinery move in such fluid way, its almost like a choreographed dance routine.

We should have more timelapse to follow once we return back to the studio. Stay tuned!

The REFLECT Project | Trent Bell Speaks at TEDx

Late last year we were invited to speak at the Amosokeag Millyard TEDx event in Manchester, NH. The topic was the REFLECT project, an idea we conceived to share stories and experiences through the combination of visual and written form. The idea of speaking at TEDx was new and really exciting for us (and a bit nerve-racking) because it gave us the chance to further the conversation about an idea we are so passionate about. Although this is just one project within the larger scope, we continue to explore the relationship between subject and artist. Stay tuned!

Architecture in Motion – Spurwink Retreat

We are really pumped to finally lift the veil off a project that has been in the works for over two years now. Architecture in Motion is a documentary video that explores a recently completed oceanfront retreat in Scarborough, ME. After many months of planning and scouting, we spent two days shooting stills and framing up all the compositions that were decided upon in scouting. We followed up each still composition with a video sequence so we could seamlessly match the two in post production. Because this project had such a unique setting we also captured aerial footage to help give a sense of scale and location that wouldn’t have been possible if only filming from the ground. We hope you enjoy!!

The process behind retouching a panorama commercial interior is a lot more detailed then editing a single un-stitched image. This method makes for a great image but also requires a bit more work in post production (especially with added strobes). The new panorama feature in Lightroom is nice but it is completely useless when in comes to building up layers in Photoshop. The Lightroom process relies to much on automation and doesn’t give enough control over how the image should be processed. Luckily there is still the ability within Lightroom to export images to Photoshop where they can then be combined as panoramas (much more control). This method is a lot more predictable when stacking layers and ensuring they line up correctly.

Post Production

Once we had 4-5 different (panorama, natural light) exposures stacked together in Photoshop we began constructing our base image. There were a few areas that didn’t quite line up but we handled this with a little retouching. After we had our base image completed we started adding in strobe layers. To accomplish this we dropped a single strobe layer on the base panorama layer and manually lined it up by turning the strobe layer blending mode to difference (once the layer is lined up perfectly it will go dark). We checked this after the fact by toggling the layer on and off. This only works if the initial panorama was blended using the re-position method in Photoshop. The re-position method ensures the image hasn’t been stretched or altered to create the panorama but rather re-positioned and blended (otherwise adding additional layers wouldn’t line up). We went through this process every time we included a new layer or element to the image. Once everything was in place we added all the adjustment layers and did the retouching.